28 TRIAND. DIGYN. 



large tuft of white silky hairs. Plant much used for thatching, for 

 fences and various economical purposes. 

 15. HOLCUS. 



1. H. avenaceus (Oat-like Soft -grass), perfect floret superior 

 scarcely awned, imperfect one antheriferous with a very long 

 jointed awn, root knotted. Lightf. p. 105 (Avena elatior). 

 E.B. t. 1813. 



HAB. Hedges and pastures, frequent. Fl. July. I/ . 



Two to three feet high. Leaves linear-acuminate. Panicle long, 

 loose. Spikelets greenish brown. Cal. glumes unequal, shorter 

 than the florets, lanceolate, keel pubescent ; valves of the cor.bifidat 

 the extremity, outer ones hairy, much nerved. Habit of an Avena, 

 but flowers polygamous. Arrhenatherum Beauvois. The Holcus 

 hulbosus of Schrader seems to be scarcely different from it. 



2. H. mollis (creeping Soft-grass), perfect floret inferior and 

 awnless, imperfect one antheriferous with a bent awn reaching 

 beyond the cal., root creeping. Lightf. p. 63 1 . E. B. t. \ 170. 



HAB. Among corn, but not frequent, Lightf. Hedges and shady 

 places, occasionally about Glasgow, Hopk. FL July. I/ . 



Two feet high, hairy. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute. Spikelets ovate, 

 with a protruded awn. Cal. glumes equal in length, ovato-lanceo- 

 late, much compressed, larger than the florets, having short hairs, 

 Valves of the cor. ovate, nearly equal. Both florets often destitute 

 of pistil. 



3. H. lanatus (Meadow Soft-grass), perfect floret inferior and 

 awnless, imperfect one antheriferous with a curved awn in- 

 cluded in the cal., root fibrous. Lightf. p. 631. E.B.t. 1169. 



HAB. Meadows, pastures, and woods, common. Fl. June, July. !/. 



Much resembling the last, but in every part covered with a large and 

 softer pubescence. Panicle generally larger ; spikelets rather 

 smaller j but the great difference between the two is in the pro- 

 truded or included awn. 



16. HIEROCHLOE. 



1, H. lorealis (northern Hierochloe), panicle subsecund, perlim-* 

 cles glabrous, florets awnless, outer valves of the cor. ciliated 

 at the margin. Roem. et Schultz Syst. Feg. v.2. p. 513. 

 Holcus odoratus, Linn. Suec. n. 918. G. Don. MSS. ined. 



HAB. In a narrow mountain valley called Kella, Angus, G. Don. 

 Fl. July. Tl . 



A valuable discovery of the late acute Mr. G. Don ; called Hiero- 

 chloe* by Gmelin, because in some parts of the Prussian domi- 

 nions |t is dedicate^ to the Virgin Mary, and strewed before the 

 doors of the churches on festival days. It has, like others of the ge- 

 nus, an agreeable scent, resembling that of Anthoxanthumodoratum. 

 Linnaeus tells us it is a soporific, and sold in the towns in Sweden 

 to be suspended over the beds, and induce sleep. About one foot high^ 



a From /eJ> sacred, and %\OK or x,** 9 *) a Grass. 



